Just purchased a 2.5 hp outboard for my getaway and after researching ethanol gas use in marine outboards I'm confused. Some reputable sites state that its a myth ethanol gas blends <10% harm engines. Others say to only use no ethanol gas. Any opinions on this subject?

If it's a newer motor, it's probably designed to some extent to accept E-10. That being said, if pure gasoline is available instead, there's no way I'd put that crap in my outboard! Ethanol is extremely corrosive, hygroscopic, and ethanol blends can separate. I have had ethanol related problems in most of the small engines I owned before I started using only pure gasoline in them. Ethanol in gasoline is the ultimate victory of politics (read: campaign contributions) over common sense. Only a Congressman could possibly see ethanol as a viable fuel.

I've been running outboards for 6 yrs now on my TI. When I run E10 fuel when the motor sits for a week or more the fuel clumps up into a white gel that plugs up all the jets,(kind of like margarine). When I use ethanol free recreational fuel (available at many gas stations around here), all my fuel problems go away. Every 6 months or so I go out and buy 5gallons of recreational fuel, the Honda dealer recommended I use either recreational fuel or aviation fuel with Yamaha fuel stabilizer. As a licensed pilot I can legally buy aviation fuel, but why bother, the recreational fuel does the job just fine, and I can buy it pretty much anywhere (just make sure you don't put it in your car, around here there is a sign at the pump stating it's illegal to put recreational fuel in cars).FE

Some areas are allowing the sale of "non-ethanol Premium" gas. this is a decent substitute. Ethanol fuel can be used but i would advise a good fuel stabilizer. Look one made for a "marine environment", as there is extra moisture to deal with. The deal with ethanol is "Put it in the tank, then get it out of there." IE; run the thing. Cans of 2-stroke fuel can be purchased at most hardware stores now. It is premixed so look for the one your engine requires. If you run this before shutting the engine down, (for any extended time, even a week), you should be okay. this is kind of expensive to run if you operate the engine a lot, but, using it as a "storage fuel" works okay.

The manual states that I should use regular 86 or greater octane gasoline. It does say that a fuel stablizer should be use if storing for more than a month. I'll probably add some with each tank to be safe.